Shards of Reality
by ichigoarerugi
Summary: Anastasia Owens used to be a modern-day high school student/FMA fan, but a run-in with Truth takes two things from her: her reality, and her freedom. Sent to Amestris in the beginning of the story, Ana tries to be a hero and save lives by using the shards of her own reality within the story, but is it her place to interfere? And what did Truth mean about her freedom? OC-centric.
1. Chapter 1

Truthfully, my story didn't start right at the Truth. It started in a high school biology classroom, with me staring at a box of dead frogs.

The yearly frog dissecting ritual.

In middle school, it was better. The teachers respected my request to not have to do the experiment and instead gave me a couple of worksheets on the anatomy of a frog to fill out, while everyone else participated in the barbaric academic ritual of slicing apart a dead animal to examine its insides. Not only was it nasty, but being an animal lover, I'd always thought it was unethical to take frogs from their natural habitat and cause their population to rapidly decline just for a stupid lab experiment.

But 10th grade bio wasn't like middle school.

Mrs. Stein (the Satan of biology teachers, let me tell you) wouldn't let me out of it, though. I made a very strong case about wildlife protection, if I do say so myself, and offered to do an extra credit assignment or something instead. I'd even brought reading material in case I finished early.

She glared at me, gave me a scalpel and a face mask and a frog and told me to do the damn experiment. I moaned, walking over to the lab bench in defeat.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my brain. Speaking of reading material… guess what I'd brought with me. None other than (do I even need to say it?) volumes 4 and 6 of Fullmetal Alchemist, my own personal copies of them.

I remembered one of the chapters in volume 5 involving the Elrics transmuting their mother. Did it mention how to do it?

It was a dumb idea. I realize that now. And it was a bad idea (didn't the series go on and on about how bad of an idea transmutation was?), and it was a work of fiction that gave me the idea, nothing real, nothing substantial. It shouldn't work. It wouldn't work.

But desperation makes people do stupid things. And if there was even a sliver of a chance it would work, then I'd be willing to try transmuting the frogs.

Quickly, I ran to my seat and retrieved the sixth volume of FMA from the paper-filled wilderness that was inside my messenger bag. I've never been known for my organization, but I had to be quick about it. That way, Mrs. Stein wouldn't see me taking a book to the lab station and I wouldn't get lectured for about the eightieth time about _not taking unnecessary materials into lab and providing distractions; pay attention to what you're doing, proper lab safety requires you to have your full focus on the experiment at hand, don't you want to be a good scientist _(why does she assume I give a crap about science? I'm only in this class because I have to be).

I flipped to Chapter 23. There it was; the picture of the transmutation circle. Rushing back to the lab station with a book in hand, I grabbed the scalpel and started to make an incision of the circle onto the lab bench before anyone can notice I'm vandalizing school property.

I glanced back at my handiwork, carved into the wooden bench. I accredited it to the many years I've spent taking art classes that it's almost a mirror image. I placed the dead frog in the center of the circle (I know that they were using the materials that made up a person when they tried Transmutation, but if I have the whole frog, why not just use that?), then contemplated how I was going to get a frog's blood for the soul. It's not like I was going to cut open a frog to do it, because that would defeat the purpose of transmuting one in the first place.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A girl's voice, filled with arrogance, in my ear. I turned, shocked, to see my snobby lab partner Sienna Robinson giving me a look that's one part confusion mixed with two parts contempt.

Maybe it was the look she gave me, or maybe it was the fact that she's tall and blonde and your stereotypical popular girl crossed with some sort of demon, but any pitiful words I could have given as an explanation for my actions right then got caught somewhere in the back of my throat.

Replying was unnecessary, anyways. Sienna just snatched the book out of my hand and glanced at the page I was opened to.

"Another stupid manga? That's for nerds. But wait, you are nerd. I suppose that's fitting- wait a second," realization slapped Sienna hard across the face as she held the book up to compare the illustrations to what I'd done to our lab station, and her face paled. "What the hell? You're doing _that_? To a frog? I really don't like the sound of this."

She gave me a smirk to hide how freaked out she was and called, "Mrs. Stein! Come see what Ana's doing to the lab!"

Dammit. Well, I couldn't wait to figure out how to get the blood- it was now or never.

I pricked myself with the scalpel, letting a drop of my own blood fall, and then brought my hands down over the mess I'd made. Pressing into the wood as hard as I could, I barely noticed the screams and yells aimed at me.

I didn't notice everything fade away into white.

I only noticed once the gate was stretched out in front of me, tendrils of shadows curling outward to try to grab at me, making me scream.

"Truth? TRUTH!" I could barely hear my own words as the tendrils reached me, curling over every part of me except for my eyes.

The gates opened, and I went in, being forced to look at everything, forced to feel everything. Taken apart, every part of me was taken apart, and then reassembled in a process so painful that what likely took a minute felt like a year. And I couldn't look away from everything that I was seeing- I knew too much now, I didn't want to know more, but it kept getting crammed into my mind.

Then, the gate opened and I was thrust out again, back to the whiteness.

"You conceited fool," said a very faint figure, only noticeable because of the blackness that surrounded it: the Truth. "Thinking something from a work of fiction could really be attempted- something that you were warned against trying - and that you could be the one to pull it off. You're a fool, Anastasia Owens, for thinking you can do the impossible. No human can. No human SHOULD."

"How do you know my name?" My words come out as a gasp, and the Truth grins its horrible grin as if it's enjoying my confusion and suffering.

"Because I am you. And I am the universe, and I am 'true knowledge', and the world and God and one and all and everything…"

"You talk too much," I interrupt. "Am I really a fool for trying the impossible? All the great geniuses of humankind tried the impossible. The people who invented electricity, telephones, the Internet, toilets, all of that; didn't they try the impossible and succeed? You don't know what's impossible until you do it for yourself. _That _is the truth."

"And you think you know the truth better than the Truth, the great being that gave you your knowledge and opened the gates for you in the first place? Then you really are conceited. But that does not change the fact that you only got the idea from a work of _fiction. _And you thought that you could make fiction real."

"Fiction is real," I retort. "At least in part. The situation, the magic, all of that might be false- but the emotions that go into it and come out of it aren't. No matter how improbable the scenario is, there are shards of reality in it. There is some reality in _everything._"

The Truth grinned again. "I know what your payment for gaining true knowledge is now. And because you tried to fight it, tried to talk back to me- I'm making you give two payments. One of those payments will be your _reality; _the other one of those will be your _freedom._

"Have fun trying to find those 'shards of reality' now, Anastasia."

And with that, things went black instead of white as I drifted out of consciousness.

What wakes me up now is a deep man's voice shouting at me, asking if I'm dead, if I'll open my eyes. His voice demands to be obeyed, so I open my eyes and look at him.

Is this really happening?

I'm in Amestris, and Roy Mustang standing over me.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I would just like to note that I do not own FMA. The only character that's mine would be Anastasia. The rest is all on Hiromu Arakawa-sama; I am merely using her fabulous characters to make my own fic.**

**Also note: I don't know how long this fic will be. I'd say at least 20 or so chapters, depending how much work I have for school (summer's two months away; I hope I can hold out!) and such, but it might be longer than that. Doubt it'll be less than that, though, since I plan to go through most if not all of the manga/FMAB story with Ana added, though certain events she's not going to witness. **

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If there's one thing that the fandom never exaggerated, it's this: Roy Mustang, with his shaggy dark hair, his piercing gaze, his smooth skin, and his top-notch body, is definitely as good looking as everyone says he is, to the point that it's hard to look directly into his dark eyes for fear that you'll go blind (I realize what an ironic statement this turns out to be).

By contrast, I'm just wearing my usual casual school clothes- skinny jeans, a tank top under a sweatshirt, and my pink Converse with the white stars on them. Looking down, I see dirt and grime clinging to the fabric. I'd try to brush it off, but it would be pointless. I know I forgot to brush my curly brownish hair this morning, and I'd bet that my glasses are crooked now.

I'm pretty much unworthy of even standing near Colonel Mustang.

Given that, I don't look at him, but I do accept his strong arm as he helps me up, murmuring to himself. Probably about whether he should find the nearest asylum right now and check me in, or whether he's got better things to do.

His voice is deep, a silky smooth tone, as he starts talking. As he does, he gives me a crooked smirk that I can see out of the corner of my eye.

"Do you make it a habit of laying down in the middle of busy streets? An odd quirk, I suppose, but I don't think that's it- what were you doing in that position, m'am? Are you all right?"

I could give him the honest answer, but he'd probably think I was insane (not that I'm convinced of my own sanity at this point). Quickly, I try to make something up.

"Um… nothing, Colonel Mustang, nothing important. Just… sunbathing."

Sunbathing? Why can't I be a better liar? It sucks to be such an honest person sometimes.

He chuckles as he replies, "There's two major flaws to that argument, besides the obvious. One: it's a cloudy day; there's no sun for you to bathe in. Two: even if the sun were out, I would think that sunbathing requires you to have some of your skin exposed, and you're pretty thoroughly covered. Next time, try to come up with a better excuse. By the way, how did you know my name? I think I would remember if I'd met a beautiful woman such as yourself in the past."

Reports of his womanizing status have not been exaggerated, if he's even willing to flirt with a highly disheveled teenaged girl. He's even kind of charming when he's completely showing me up.

And I must admit that I hate being shown up.

"Of course I know your name. You're Colonel Roy Mustang, also known as the Flame Alchemist. Your first lieutenant is Riza Hawkeye, who never misses a shot and who's also your personal bodyguard." (And possibly more than that, but I don't need to say that out loud.) "Your second lieutenant is Jean Havoc, who's always got a cigarette in his mouth and seems to have substantial issues with keeping a girlfriend. Need I go on?"

As I finish talking, I dare myself to look directly into his eyes. Instead of the usual cockiness and hardness, there's a hint of amusement mixed with a fair amount of surprise.

"Well, that cancels out my theory that you're a misinformed tourist. But you didn't properly answer any of my questions: who are you, and what are you up to? Do you need help with anything?"

I pitifully tell him, "My name… um, I'm Anastasia Owens. You can just call me Ana, if you'd rather. And, I'm, well…"

Now, I guess I could try to tell Colonel Mustang the truth, but there's a huge chance that he wouldn't believe me if I did. I mean, if I tell him the truth- that I tried transmutation with horrible consequences- the best thing that could come of it would probably be that I get arrested for trying something as illegal and frowned upon as that. The worst would be the asylum. Besides, frog dissection wasn't even around until like 1920, to the best of my knowledge.

(Though Amestris seems to progress on a different time scale than my world, the _real_ world, does. In the early 1900's, as I've learned of it in all the years of history classes at school, we definitely didn't have metal, mechanical prosthetics or clothes in the style the FMA characters wear. So maybe frog dissection in schools is a thing here, if they even have high schools in this timeline.)

In the end, I decide give him the truth, or a version of it. At least, I plan on it.

As I'm about to reply, I realize that we're still standing in the middle of the street, and there's a car heading in our direction. The man driving the car is humming loudly, totally oblivious to the fact we're right in front of him.

We probably don't have enough time to move out of the way, so I make a spur-of-the-moment decision that I hope will protect us.

If I (almost) could do a transmutation just following the examples of what I'd read and seen in the manga and Brotherhood, then maybe this would work too? It's worth trying, anyways. I press my hands together, then crouch down, letting my arms swipe at the air before bringing my hands flat against the stone street. Sure enough, a wall of stone rises out of the ground to save us from the car's impact.

I hear brakes screeching to a halt, just before the car would've hit the wall. Guess THAT got the driver's attention. A loud strong of shouted, angry curse words leaves his mouth.

Mustang grabs my arm and tugs me off the street, and I use my alchemy to lower the wall back into the ground, so that the street looks just as it had before.

I expect Roy to be pissed off at me for almost causing so much destruction, but instead he stays silent for a few moments before speaking up.

"The only person I've seen do alchemy without a circle is the state alchemist Edward Elric, and that's because he did a transmutation and saw the Truth. That must mean…"

"You caught me red-handed," I confess. "But I can explain myself."

"My car is parked a little up this way," Mustang says. "I have a place to be, but I'd like you to come with, though we'll have to stop to pick up Hawkeye on the way… and you can give me that explanation on the way there."

So I do.

I tell him and Riza (after we've stopped to get her at her apartment; she's already dressed in her military outfit, ad when she gets in the car Roy introduces us curtly) everything, everything there is for me to tell them. They get the (mostly) real story, and I take my time stopping to explain the things that they don't understand. There's two things I leave out for them, though. One of those things is the fact that they're part of a manga/anime series. In this reality, the one I'm stuck in right now, all of this _is_ real. Really happening, or at least starting to happen, since I've got no idea what part of the manga Truth launched me into. But since I'm now living and breathing this story, I can't call it fiction anymore.

Plus, how could I be mean enough to crush someone's spirits by telling them that their whole world didn't really exist, or that I thought that they weren't real people with real problems?

Instead, I make up something up to explain why I know so much about this world, I say that Amestrian history was part of my school curriculum and it had fascinated me to the point I'd looked further into it on my own time. Because of that, I knew pretty much everything there was to know about all of them and about Amestris. I also said that my class hadn't believed that any of the alchemical aspects in our lessons were true, but that I was fascinated by alchemy and had started to do my own research on it.

The second thing I leave out is Truth's second fee for giving me True Knowledge: my freedom.

I don't know what that means, and it kills me to not understand something so incredibly important. I'm used to understanding everything; everything used to make sense, but none of this does. My guess is that Truth was lying about there being a second fee (can the Truth tell a lie?) in an effort to scare me, to make itself sound more powerful and all-knowing and to make me more afraid.

But just in case Truth was being honest, I don't want to drag anyone into that. It's mine to figure out, hopefully without hurting anyone else in the process.

When I finish with my long-winded explanation, they stare at me. They're clearly making an effort not to look confused or shocked, but Riza's serious yet emotion-packed glance and Roy's ever-piercing gaze can't fully conceal their true reactions.

"Well, I guess that's it. Any questions?" I ask, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

Roy starts to speak.

"Let me make sure I'm hearing this correctly. You were in a future high school science class where you were forced to cut open dead frogs, and you took pity upon the animals and tried to use Transmutation- which you were warned against doing- to save them. You then vandalized your school's property to try to Transmute them, but you failed and got sucked in by this being called Truth that showed you True Knowledge. Then Truth said that you were conceited for trying to attempt something you were warned against, that everyone implied was an embellishment of actual history, and you told Him that in all fiction there was a little bit of reality mixed in. Truth decided that, for giving you True Knowledge, He'd take away your reality from you and send you back to a past reality. And that's you wound up in the middle of a street unconscious."

"You get a gold star for today, Colonel Mustang," I tell him, half-sarcastically (but also gratefully, as I'm relieved that they don't seem to want to throw me in the loony bin). "Yes, you got the main picture. I realize it sounds like I'm making something up, but I swear that that's really what happened."

Riza starts to speak up, saying, "That might possibly be the most fantastical story that I've ever heard, and that actually says a lot. But, at the same time, I believe you. It does explain why you're dressed like that, and why you can do alchemy without a circle, and why none of us have seen nor heard of you until today. You do, however, realize that transmutation is illegal?"

I gulp. Nod.

"I do realize that, Lieutenant. And I guess that if you have to lock me up for trying it, I'm willing to do my time." Maybe that was what Truth meant when he said I'd lose my freedom: I'd be doomed to be behind bars as a prisoner.

"No, we're not going to do that," Mustang clarifies, and Riza nods in agreement. "We very well should, but we won't, at least for the time being. If anything, I think we should let you test to be a State Alchemist- and I know there's an open testing slot for a couple of days from now, so I'll arrange it with King Bradley to let you take it. It usually takes a long time to complete the test, but I think if you start early enough in the morning, you should be able to finish the test in one day."

"S-state Alchemist?" I stutter, shocked that I'm good enough to be one in such a short period of time. "R-really? I mean, um, well, thanks, Colonel and First Lieutenant. Are you sure?"

They look at each other for a minute, then turn back to me. Riza states, "Yes, we are, Ana. Perhaps if you become one, you can further look into ways to get yourself back to your own time. I'm sure there is some way.

"But I will tell you this: it was indeed a conceited thing to do to think you could do something that no one had succeeded at, that you had absolutely no experience with. Now, a little bit of conceit isn't the worst thing to have; it's good to have some faith in yourself, some confidence in your own abilities. But if the Truth is a God-like being, to assert that you know better than God is not a good idea."

_But what if, in that case, I really DID know better than a God? Because the shards of reality thing _has _to be true. There is no such thing as pure fiction, is there?_

Roy picks up where Riza had left off.

"However, that's a minor character flaw in the grand scheme of things. We could use your skills and, if you really know so much about Amestrian history, we could use your knowledge from a future perspective. What is a good idea, and what isn't? But we're going to have to make up a story for you, since obviously we can't tell people that you're from the future and that you performed an illegal Transmutation. How about we say that you're a psychic from another country, and you can do what you can because of differences in our countries' forms of alchemy? And that you've only recently just moved here, but you're staying for good, so it's safe to let you in the military."

I nod. It sounds more believable than my story, anyways.

Mustang informs Riza, "By the way, we're only a few minutes away from our destination."

"And where are we going, might I ask?"

Roy exhales. "Back to our headquarters. That pipsqueak Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse just reported that Mr. Tucker turned his own dog and daughter into a chimera- how despicable. Anyways, the Elrics are there right now."

So I'm near the very beginning. Hughes hasn't died, and most of the characters haven't been introduced. We don't know that the Fuhrer is a Homunculus. There's still the original Greed, and we also don't know what the Human Sacrifices are. There is much that we don't know still, and so much harm and tragedy that will come of it.

Well, I take that back. They don't know any of this, but I sure do. And I'm going to use that unique knowledge to be a hero, to save lives, to make things better. Maybe Truth _knows_ I was right. Because by taking me to a new reality, maybe His intent was that I use the shards of my own reality to help the people in this one.

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**That's it for now!**

**If you liked this, or if you have constructive criticism (phrase it as nicely as possible, please, because I'm an overly sensitive person), write a review when you have the time.**

**THANK YOU FOR READING! I love you from the bottom of my Fullmetal Heart.**


	3. Chapter 3

Army boots and raindrops hitting the concrete of the steps is all that I can hear as I follow Roy and Riza to where the Elrics are sitting dejectedly, having seen the work of a monster.

Well, not a monster. A man who made a monster out of his own daughter, and didn't even look back, didn't even feel bad about it. And isn't that who the true monster here?

Shou Tucker. I must admit, I wish Edward had beat him all the way to death for that. I'd do it myself, if I didn't already know that Scar would do it.

If I had gotten plopped into the manga earlier, I would have saved Nina. I would have. I would be that little girl's hero, be_ everyone's_ hero, but it's too late and I can't. Not now.

Solemnly, Riza ponders, "If there is such a thing as the work of the devil, that's definitely what happened here."

"Not the devil," I interject. "A man. That's what makes it all the more terrifying, that people are capable of doing such horrible things."

We get closer to the bottom of the steps.

Roy smirks, but not a cocky smirk, a sad one. "Yes, not a devil. As a state alchemist, you have to be prepared to be a human weapon, to get your hands dirty if the situation calls for it. In that respect, what we do to people's lives isn't that different from what Mr. Tucker did today.

"That's his reasoning. The reasoning of an adult. He might act like an adult, but he's still a child. And he's going to face more hardship and anguish for this later, more than what he's faced today; even if he chooses to accept it, he'll have no choice but to move forward. Isn't that right, Fullmetal?"

The Fullmetal Alchemist doesn't turn around to answer us yet. He and his brother sit looking away from us, slumped shoulders indicating defeat. The two of them have made no effort to shield themselves from the rain.

"How long are you going to sulk like that, Fullmetal?" Mustang asks him.

"Shut up," Edward and I reply at the same time.

Mustang looks at me amusedly before continuing, "Even if you're called a dog or a devil, the one who decided to make full use of those privileges to restore your bodies was _you._ Do you have time to take a break for something as minor as this?"

"God, Colonel, who the hell do you think you are? A man just transmuted his own little girl and her dog into a monster. This is not MINOR. You can act all high and mighty if you want, but you know you're just as disgusted and frightened by this as these two over here," I fiercely retort, taking off my glasses as I do so to wipe off the droplets of water that have collected on the lenses.

I can hear Roy mutter that maybe they should give _me _the nickname of Flame Alchemist as Ed looks up and stares at me for a second.

"Mustang, who's this girl?" He asks.

FUCK.

"Ed, this is Anastasia Owens- you can just call her Ana, since that's a long name. She's a psychic from the East City that I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of weeks ago at an event, where I discovered that she can transmute without a circle. So she's going to test to be the next State Alchemist within the next week or so."

The phrase _without a circle_ seems to resonate with Ed and Al. Ed offers me a half-hearted smile.

"It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Fullmetal- I mean, Edward, if I may call you that. I've heard a great deal about you; you've made quite the impression on the people of Amestris. And you're taller than I expected you to be," I state.

Ed gives me a grin that's something between joy and anger, like he can't tell if that was some sort of hidden short joke or not. "You're talking to me, right?"

"Who else would I be talking to? Alphonse? Believe it or not, I know that Al's not the Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm not quite that stupid." At hearing his name, Alphonse looks up and waves.

Ed looks happy for a second before the whole Shou Tucker thing dawns on him again, and he sulks once more.

"Anyway, Mustang, we got off track. I'll restore our bodies even if we get called dogs or devils, but we're not devils and we're definitely not Gods. We're just human beings, and we couldn't even save one little girl! We're insignificant human beings!"

For a second Ed looks like he revealed too much about the whole body restoration thing, before I hastily add, "I already knew about the Al's-soul-in-a-suit-of-armor situation, don't worry about that. I could, uh, sense it on you. You know, psychic stuff."

Roy cuts me off before I can make this worse for myself.

"You're going to catch a cold, Fullmetal. Why don't you go back and rest? You too, Ana. And we should probably get you into some dry clothing, since it looks like whatever it is you're wearing is dirty and soaked through."

I look down at my sweatshirt, which is clinging to my skin (Roy's probably kind of happy about this). For a second I almost want to add that maybe we should stay here, or go back to where Tucker is since if I recall correctly, Scar's about to kill him as we speak. But in the end, my disgust for what he's done to his own daughter prevents me from stepping in. I agree with Scar, in this case, that he kind of deserves it.

I nod. "Okay, let's go."

We all walk back up the stairs to Roy's car, Ed eyeing me with a slight bit of suspicion as we go.

In the end, we stop at a store on the way back to the military headquarters for me to pick up some clothing, since what I'm wearing is all I have and it's ruined (except for the sneakers, which have held up okay). Roy bills it off as a military expense, and I change into new, dry clothes: a black turtleneck sweater, a short gray pleated skirt (as I know how much Roy likes miniskirts) with black leggings underneath to keep me warmer in the cold rain, and a pair of waterproof boots not unlike the military ones. I also get a warm jacket and a scarf to protect me from the cold air.

Roy wants to get in paperwork so that I can take the alchemy test in the next available timeslot, which happens to be four days from today. He says that, if I've actually seen the Truth, I should already know how to do the written portion of the test and should nail the practical examination. (There's also that psychological evaluation component. If even that psychopath KIMBLEE passed that one, I'm not worried about it.)

Mustang's already appointed Ed to the task of helping me study, which Ed begrudgingly accepted. He also arranged for me to stay in a military dormitory about a mile from the East City headquarters, where Ed and Al are also staying. Since it's stopped raining, the three of us walk there together in silence until we're about a block from the place, when suddenly Ed stops us.

"Is the coast clear, Al?" Ed inquires of his brother, who nods (as best as he can, given he's literally a walking suit of armor now and his movements are all very stiff.)

"Quick detour, Ana. Let's just step off the sidewalk, let the people of this city have their space while I ask you a couple of questions."

I gulp. Did he figure something out? Oh god, maybe the backstory Roy made up for me had a couple of plot holes.

We walk into the narrow allow between a few buildings. Shadows trace all of our features as we stand between the light and the dark, Ed looking at me and Al's armored head not showing any emotion.

I must look pretty freaked out right now, because Edward sighs and sort of half-smiles at me. "Don't look so freaked. I'm not going to beat you up or anything like that- I just want to ask you a few things. Despite the fact I'm in the military I don't trust their building not to be bugged, and I don't want them to hear us talking about this."

Suddenly, it dawns on me that Ed's going to ask me about my Transmutation.

"I know what you want to talk about, Ed. The Transmutation I performed, right?"

Al's voice says from next to Edward, "Maybe she is actually a psychic. Did Truth give you that ability?"

"You could say that," I reply, then I lower my voice so that no one except the three of us would be able to hear me talk. "I know about yours already, as I said. It's why your limbs are metal and Al's in that suit of armor. I don't know what dumb war-related excuse it was that you gave the Fuhrer for it, but I know that's a stupid lie. You were bringing back your mom, right? Or at least, trying to?"

They're silent for a second, clearly not wanting to be reminded of their failed Transmutation and dead mother, so I switch the subject. "Hey, at least you had a decent reason for trying it. I decided to transmute a dead frog without having any prior alchemical instruction."

"Why would you be sent to the Truth for doing that, though?" Al questions, not getting it. That's when it occurs to me that I DIDN'T attempt Human Transmutation; I transmuted a frog, for God's (Truth's?) sake! Why did I get penalized for it, then?

"Did you use a frog's blood to do the transmutation?" Ed asks.

"No, I used mine," I reply, very confused. "Why? Does it matter?"

"Yes," Ed snaps. "As a matter of fact, it does. If you used a human's blood- your own blood- for the soul, then I could see how that would be perceived as a Human Transmutation. In that case, it's like you're using a frog's body to host a human soul. And I would figure that really, any kind of transmutation would be frowned upon by Truth. You can't bring back the dead! The main reason that sort transmutation's so bad is because you can't just fucking play God and interfere like that!"

"I thought I knew what I was doing," my voice cracks a little as I talk, trying to resist the urge to sob.

_I _did _know what I was doing! It's just that Truth thought he knew better and got in the way of it. Maybe I could have pulled it off if He hadn't interfered with it. Maybe I'm some sort of alchemy prodigy or something. Yeah, maybe that's it, and Truth didn't want my skills wasted in a time and place that considers alchemy a myth! Heck, maybe I'm going to be a BETTER alchemist than Edward Elric here!_

_But transmutation IS against the rules…_

"I thought I knew what I was doing, too, and look what good came of that," Ed replies somewhat angrily, cutting off my internal argument, as he pulls off his right glove to reveal the metal hand.

I knew it was there, but to see it in person- it's an incredible sight and a terrifying one, both at once. The gray steel is glossy, the slightest bit of rust coating it. You can see the individual knuckles and joints on the fingers, these little metal balls. The texture of the outer plating looks like stripes, a kind of a modern touch.

Al waves to get my attention and knocks on his metal chest with his metal arm, the slight noise that rings out making it clear that it's completely hollow inside.

I can't even speak right now. If I do, I'll cry.

"The Truth's pretty damn strict on enforcing its rules," Edward grunts. "He doesn't let anyone through his gates without taking something important from them, as if the trauma that comes along with it isn't enough of a payment. But I did learn a lesson from that; I won't be transmuting myself unless it's to restore what I lost. Which reminds me, I was going to ask- what did Truth take from you? Your eyesight?"

I shake my head, managing to swallow and speak in a voice that's almost normal.

"I've had glasses since the fifth gr- uh, since I was ten. Why, is it a bad look?"

"Not at all," Ed reassures me, probably noticing that my eyes are shining with tears and trying to make me feel better. "Then it wasn't that. What did Truth take from you, then?"

"I don't think she wants to talk about it, Brother," Al half-whispers. "Look, she looks miserable just thinking of it."

I take my glasses off, the tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Don't cry, Ana. I guess you don't want to talk about it; sorry for prying. I know it sure pisses me off when people pry into my business, especially if it's something I'd rather forget about." Ed shifts awkwardly, since he's obviously not that good at comforting people. "I'll give you some advice I gave a girl the other day: Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them."

I nod, brushing water out of my eyes, and Al links his hollow arm around mine as we walk the rest of the way to the military dormitory.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's been a while since the last update. The opening chapters might not be that exciting- but I have parts I'm just dying to write, but those are coming later.**

* * *

It's sometime in the very early morning, before the sun even rises. I should probably be asleep, but dark images plague my brain whenever I shut my eyes. Everything I saw in the gates- it's so much at once, and I certainly had my fill of it the first time, but it stays stuck in my head like my mind's a broken record.

I've got no idea how long I was asleep for, no idea how long I've been awake for; time's kind of irrelevant right now, I guess. Why keep track of reality passing by me when this isn't my reality to start with?

So instead, I've been laying in the dark and trying to think, but I can't focus on anything at the moment.

I hear a shrieking sound from the other side of the building- the boys' side, and then it goes silent again. _I must be at the start of chapter 6 now, meaning that was Ed waking from a nightmare about his mother. _

I was a little mad at him all night, for him trying to get something out of me that was so personal and such a new wound, but I can't just leave him alone when he's clearly upset. Stretching as I get out of bed, I try to neaten the sheets up before I walk out of the room.

I hope I remember what room he's in. He told the room number to me before bed, saying that I'd likely have to wake him up in the morning since he's a pretty heavy sleeper. I hadn't bothered to write it down, thinking I'd just remember it, but now I'm doubting that fact.

Room 113, I think. I try the knob, and it's not locked, so I figure that it's okay to let myself in if I move quietly.

Golden eyes scan the room for the person who's entering. I smile, hoping Edward can see in the dark, congratulating myself for actually having gotten it right. Though as I think this, I realize that it probably wouldn't have mattered anyways- the place is pretty much empty, Ed and Al and I being the only people on this floor.

"Dammit," Ed curses at me, scrambling around under his covers. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY ARE YOU WALKING IN WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SLEEPING? FOR ALL YOU KNOW I COULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING IN MY UNDERWEAR OR WITHOUT CLOTHES OR SOMETHING, PERVERT!"

"Shut up and be quieter," I whisper to him, taking a seat against the wall near his bed. "It's really early; you're going to disturb someone."

"Like you just disturbed me? And I REALIZE that it's really early!"

"I guess you aren't a morning person?"

"Of course not… okay, sorry for getting pissed. Obviously I didn't sleep well," he's finally being quieter, "And I didn't recognize you when you came in, since you don't have your glasses on."

"Oh… right." I forgot them in my room. "Well, I don't really need at the moment. For some reason, my vision's always been better at night. Regardless of that, did you have a nightmare or something? I haven't really been able to sleep, and from my room I heard you shrieking. And… I guess I know how you feel right now? I didn't want you to be alone, all afraid like that..." I trail off awkwardly. "I guess I figured Al would've thought of it too, especially since he doesn't need to sleep or anything."

"Damn psychic, knowing that already… but yes, his room is next to mine, so he came in almost immediately. There's this one store I know of around here that's open 24 hours a day, so I sent him to get some breakfast for us, since I figured it was something better for him to do than to sit alone in his room or be in here worrying about me ," Edward explains. "He hasn't been gone for long."

"Ah," I don't know what I'm supposed to say in reply. "Do you want to… talk about it, I guess?"

"God, you're weird, Anastasia. Then again, it might help to do that, so I'll take you up on the offer.

"It was about my mother. Tucker told me that what he and I did wasn't any different, that we both toyed around with human lives to meet our own goals, and I guess it stuck with me. It was a dream that I'd transmuted this little toy horse for my mother. At first she was proud of me, saying I was just like my dad, but then her face turned darker and she started to drip blood. And she said 'you couldn't make me right'…" he shudders a little bit, leaving it unfinished. You can tell how much pain he's in, though.

"You and Tucker aren't the same," I tell him, disgusted at the notion of that. Now, it's one thing to read what Tucker said, but another thing entirely to see the effect it had firsthand. "He did what he did with the intent to hurt Nina, just to further himself and his own career. He did a decent thing in theory, making a talking chimera, but he did it badly and with bad intentions. You did Transmutation, which is considered a bad thing, but you did it with good intentions, even if you didn't properly do it. There's some parallelism in that, but your case is pretty much the reverse of his. You're not alike."

Ed looks at me like he's considering this, his golden eyes half-closed.

"Are you tired? You can go to sleep; I don't mean to keep you awake longer."

"I'll do that in a sec. Can I ask you now, Ana? What did Truth take from you? Everything you just said sounded pretty personal to you as well as me."

I'm getting pretty tired too, but I'm pretty comfortable around Edward, talking to him. More comfortable then I was around Roy or Riza, that's for certain. I don't mind telling him, though he likely won't understand what it means.

I'll tell him both things, actually.

"Truth took two things from me, actually, like he did with you. But you lost your arm because you transmuted Al, and I lost my second thing because I insisted that I knew better than Truth did about something." (I'm still convinced I know better than him, actually, but it's probably wise not to say that out loud again.) "He took my reality, and he took my freedom. I don't quite know what the latter means yet."

At this point, I might as well be talking to a wall, because Ed's out like a light.

I smile to myself. I guess I was of some sort of help to him.

"Wake up, you two!"

A boy's voice, though a high one like that of a child, begs me to wake up. I merely curl up against some hard surface, convinced his voice is part of a dream.

"Ana! Open your eyes!"

A deeper, harsher voice. Do I know that voice from somewhere? It sounds like Edward…

Edward!

Reality (well, this reality) washes over me as I remember where I am. I open my eyes, realizing that I'm still in Ed's dorm, having fallen asleep against the wall I'd been sitting against.

"GAH!" I jump up, shocked that I fell asleep in here. "I'm so sorry! Are we going to be late?"

"Don't worry about it. I let you two sleep in," Al replies. I can hear the smile in his voice. "And I got you muffins at that store. I hope you like banana nut. You two must have had a wild night, huh?"

Edward launches into one of his comical rages, flailing and yelling, "WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT, AL? WE DID NOT SLEEP TOGETHER! WE JUST MET HER YESTERDAY, AND I AM NOT THE KIND OF GUY THAT SLEEPS WITH EVERY GIRL HE COMES ACROSS, UNLIKE MUSTANG! YOU'RE MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DIRTY ENOUGH TO THINK I'D DO THAT!"

"That's not what I meant," Al says.

"I don't think that's what he meant," I say at the same time. "Calm yourself down, Ed," I add.

He takes a couple of breaths. "Ana, can you please leave the room while I get dressed? We can leave after that. Al told me before you woke up that we don't have to check out or anything, since he told the guys working that we were leaving soon when he came back. Then we have to go headquarters; I'm gonna ask what happened to the Tuckers. Go get your things."

I nod, biting my lip. I know what happens to the Tuckers, and he isn't going to like it.

The three of us stand in front of the door to Roy's office, not speaking a word. He has not responded to our knocking.

Nervously, I say to Ed, "You know, it's still really early… maybe we should wait until later?" I hope I can keep this information from him for as long as possible. I mean, he IS still hurting- why give him this burden to bear?

I try to drag him away by his metal arm, but he gives me a weird look. "Why are you acting so weird, Ana?"

"Oh, wow!" I ignore him. "Would you look at the time? I think I'd better go study for my alchemy exam, and since you're the Fullmetal Alchemist, you should help me study—"

Riza opens the door.

"Hello, you three. What's wrong? Why are you up so early?"

_That's an excellent question, Riza._

"Oh, um, I was just wondering. What's going to happen to Nina and Mr. Tucker?" Ed asks, not making eye contact with anyone as he does so.

The question hangs in the air, making it hard for me to breath.

"Lieutenant, how are you this morning?" I keep up with my attempt to stall. "Isn't the weather absolutely lovely? Oh, and how is Black Hayate?"

Riza ignores me too.

"There were plans to revoke Mr. Tucker's license and put him on trial, but I'm just going to tell you: they're dead," she says flatly, keeping all the emotion off of her features. I watch as Ed's face slowly shifts into an expression of horror that I'm sure Al would be sharing, if armor could show emotion.

"Officially, they were 'killed'. I'm telling you because even if I lied to you, you would have found out the truth at some point."

"By who?" Ed interjects, his angry tone not matching his horrified expression.

"I don't know that, Ed, but I'm heading off to the crime scene now," Riza explains, beginning to walk away.

"Take me too!" Ed pleads.

I shift awkwardly and call out to him, "Ed, I know this is hard for you, but I'm certain that this is not your place to interfere. Yes, this is a tragedy, but you can't change it, and seeing the bodies would only hurt you more…"

"Shut up, Ana!" He snaps back angrily. "You might be a psychic, but you don't _know _everything, so quit being a know-it-all!"

I have no words.

"She has a point, you know," Riza says, still walking down the hall. Turning to look at us darkly, she remarks, "It's better if you didn't see."

I hear her boots hitting the stairs as she walks down, leaving me alone with Al and Ed.

Al, whose stoic mask cannot hide the emotion in his voice, speaks up. "Poor Nina. She was such a sweet, cute little girl… I can't believe this."

"Neither can I," Ed says. Suddenly, he turns back to me. "Say, Anastasia, you seem oddly nonchalant about this whole thing… did you know about this already, little miss psychic?"

Fuck.

"I-I might have had some p-p-prior knowledge," I stutter nervously, not wanting to face Ed's wrath again.

"That would explain why you were behaving strangely earlier… you didn't want us to know," Al says.

"Why would you try to hide something so important from me and Al- something that even Riza didn't keep hidden? Where you trying to save us from getting hurt? Trust me, pain is nothing new to me. But this is important! I don't want you trying to protect my feelings again, Ana, okay? I can handle it. Really. Don't underestimate me."

"It would not be wise to underestimate a State Alchemist," I tell him. "Okay, fine. I won't treat you like a baby." I consider adding an 'I'm sorry' in to the mix, but to be honest, I don't know if I should apologize for wanting to keep something terrible from Ed. Something he'd probably be happier not knowing.

But I decide to give him a little warning of what's to come, and who he needs to look out for. Namely, the man who killed the Tuckers, the man who'd like to do the two of them harm as well at this point. The nameless survivor, searching for his revenge.

"Just be aware, you two- an X marks the spot."

They don't understand what I mean, but they will soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

Drop of water ricochet off of the hood of my new jacket, the gray sky continuing to downpour.

When I was a little kid and I hadn't known anything about the water cycle, I had always thought that rain was God crying. That must have been why everyone considered rain to be so dreary and depressing- for if something so horrible happened that even the Gods are upset about it, then we should all be reeling from that sadness. Being in high school now, I know that's not true- and besides, Truth is the 'God' of this reality, and I'm sure that Truth has no emotions.

Except for that irritating, know-it-all grin, the one that lets you know how much better Truth thinks it is than you.

Still, it would make sense that the sky would be crying today. To be honest, I feel like crying myself.

Now, when you're online on Tumblr or something, you hear from all the fangirls that cried when Nina died, and who cried when Hughes died, and all of that. But as much as I will seem inhuman for saying this, most of those scenes never affected me at all. I might have been a little bit saddened when reading through the first time, but in the end, it was all a work of fiction. I was so far removed from the fantastical impossibilities of alchemy that I never stopped to mourn the lost- they were not lost if they had not existed in the first place, right?

But being a part of the impossible makes it different. I didn't get to meet Nina personally, but I do get to see firsthand the effect her story has had on people. Even if I'm simply a part of a work of fiction, the reactions and actions of the characters within it are very real. There's one shard of reality for you, Truth.

And experiencing the sadness firsthand? It's demobilizing. It took every last bit of my effort to tear myself away from HQ so that I could go pick up some books from the library. Seeing as it's mainly a big mopefest with Al and Ed right now, I figured I might as well actually STUDY for the exam, even if I don't think I need to. At least, it's something to do besides sit there and join them in their sadness. I told them that I would be back within a couple of hours as I was leaving, since I know what comes later today: the fight with Scar. And if I can protect them from that, I will.

It just means I have to be quick.

But before I can even get there, I notice something in the shadows. And that's a smirk.

Is Pride already watching me? I've been here for a day; how can the Homunculi already know I exist? Worse yet, am I going to be one of their Sacrifices?

"Anastasia Owens," the darkness hisses my name. "Won't you come closer to me? Won't you join me for a moment?"

"Fuck no!" I whisper-scream back at it. "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you."

"But you can't through me at all. I have no substance; I am nothing but light and the absence of it, and that's not something that you can grasp. But I can see you; I can watch you, from every angle. At every second, of every day. It won't be hard at all to spot you; you're nothing but an outcast here, an outcast who doesn't grasp even the simplest of concepts."

"Oh, yeah? Who are you to be calling me an outcast? You're the outcast here. You're not even a human. You're simply an artificial being with a false name and a false title; hardly as superior as you seem to think you are. Everything about you is fake."

I can hear Pride smirking, practically. "Maybe you aren't as dumb as Father seems to think you are, since you've figured out about the Homunculi already, long before the rest of the fools here. But you're wrong about one thing. I don't think I am superior to you, I _know_ that I am."

The darkness is trying to grab me. I hope I can run; I need to get back to HQ. I need to help fight off Scar.

"And I will always be watching you. I can always see you, wherever there's a light."

I open my eyes to see a light shining above me. Combined with the white walls, the room nearly blinds me. It takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm in some sort of infirmary, probably some sort of a military clinic.

"Ms. Owens." A smooth voice, low in pitch. I recognize it instantly as Roy's. "You're awake. We were worried that Scar had pulled something on you too; something much less bloody, granted, but still something."

"Scar?" I ask, sitting up in the cot. _I didn't make it in time; I missed Scar. Wait a second, why the hell am I in an infirmary?_

Roy nods. "Right, you weren't there to fight him. You probably don't know who he is."

"No, she does." Ed's voice. "Remember? I told you that she tried to give us a warning before she left- the 'x marks the spot'. She's probably the only person here who actually has a clue who he is."

"I don't, however, have any clue as to why I'm in some sort of clinic. Would either one of you care to enlighten me?"

Roy sighs. "Right. That was probably what I should have started with."

"No duh, Mustang," I can hear Ed mutter. I look over at him and see his automail arm trashed from the battle with Scar. _If I had given him a better warning, maybe his arm wouldn't have been ruined._

"Hey, Pipsqueak, I'm about to explain it to her." (Ed mutters once again, something about being so short that an ant could use him as an armrest, and Roy just smirks). "Fuery was uninvolved in the fight and went into the City, and he said he saw you lying unconscious near an alleyway in the rain. It looked like someone or something had hit you, as you'll be able to tell when you see the bandage on your forehead next time you look in the mirror, and Fuery called in reinforcements to get you back here. You've been unconscious for a couple of hours."

Who could have hit me? As Pride said, darkness and light are pretty intangible- but that means that he couldn't have touched me, either, doesn't it?

"By the way, Fuery picked up the book you said you were planning to get at the library. Your test is in a couple of days, so you'll want to be studying for that, assuming you don't have a concussion."

"Pssh," I wave off Mustang's concern, or lack thereof. "I'm completely fine now. I swear; no headache or anything."

"I'm taking your word for it, Anastasia, but only because I have other things to deal with right now. But if I notice you behaving oddly, you will be taken to get your head checked out." Roy checks the time. "Armstrong should be here any minute to take you and Al to your mechanic, Ed."

"Oh, can I come?" I spring up, excited. (I've always kind of wanted to meet Winry; I would love to learn how to construct automail.)

"We'll be gone a couple of days, and you need to be here for the exam," Ed explains. The opportunity to add something about how he probably just wants his alone time with Winry has presented itself, but I figure it's probably not wise to add that. Even if he only has one arm right now, I'm sure he could still beat me up pretty efficiently.

I hear a knock (more like a banging that I'm surprised doesn't take the wall down with it) on the door. Armstrong tells Ed that they need to go to the train station, and Ed gets up to leave. I can hear Ed being crushed in the hallways by Armstrong's strong arms as he's pulled into a vicious hug.

"You're free to leave and go study," Roy tells me. "But you have to promise me you'll be more careful, especially once you're a State Alchemist. If you're new on the job, you're an easier target for Scar."

I scoff, "I'm not going to be an easy target. You don't need to worry about me, Colonel, I'm not a damsel in distress that needs to be protected."

"I really don't think you know what you're getting yourself into, Ana. Maybe in all of your futuristic history books, they make it seem like alchemy's easy, like the good party will always triumph, like the course of Amestris' future is set in stone. But you're living it, and you may discover otherwise."

I sigh. "I promise I'll look out for myself, Colonel."

He smiles slightly, then says "I'll see you tomorrow."

As I head back up to my room, it occurs to me that Roy doesn't realize- that none of them realize- that they're the ones who will need the most protection.


	6. Chapter 6

**here is where things are going to heat up a little. Next chapter's going to lead into some possibly major plot points. Hope you like, and be sure to review~~**

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A certain one-eyed gaze burns into the back of my neck as I stand in the center of the grand room, surrounded on all sides by empty floor space. An Amestrian flag hangs on one wall, stretching from the floor all the way up to the impossibly high ceiling. And a couple dozen military officers are sitting, watching me as I'm about to take the final part of my state alchemy test. Yet none of them make an impression on me, save for Roy Mustang watching me from above.

The thing I'm most focused on is the Homunculus standing behind me, an eye patch concealing the about him truth from the world. Just knowing who (and what) King Bradley really is makes being in a room with him intolerable.

Still, I turn around to greet him with a smile. Hopefully, it's a convincing fake.

"Sir," I hear one of the officers say to Bradley in surprise. "Why are you here to watch the examination? The last one I recall you personally coming to witness was Edward Elric's exam."

King Bradley replies, "Oh, no reason. I simply happened to be in the area and wanted to see what it was about this beautiful young woman here that caused Mustang to want her to test just days after meeting her."

I almost puke upon hearing this excuse. I know the truth: the only reason Bradley's come to watch me is that Father's figured out that I'm a potential Sacrifice. Thus, I'm worth holding onto.

Bradley's smile reeks of falsehood.

"Well, hello there, Ms. Owens," he says politely. "Welcome to the last part of your State exam."

Instead of kissing Bradley's feet like he probably expects me to do, I smirk at him.

"Good day to you, Fuhrer Bradley," I remark stiffly. For good measure, I curtsy at him. It's probably overkill, but I admit it- I kind of WANT to make him uncomfortable. Not that anything I could do to him would really do so, but still.

No one says anything. Bradley seems to be sizing me up, trying to figure out if I'm really all I'm cracked up to be. I clutch my hands together behind my back before breaking the silence.

Through my teeth, I add, "Forgive me for my awkwardness. It's just that, in my home country, it's kind a local custom to _have both of your eyes visible_ when you greet someone; it's an etiquette thing. My apologies."

His smile is frightening as he answers me.

"Ah, yes. Local customs are usually rather quaint. But I believe Colonel Mustang told me that you were from _this _country; more specifically, from the Eastern City."

I lose no time in replying, "Perhaps I was not clear enough when I had explained to him where I was from. I'm from the East City of another country; my home country. It's called… er… America," I rush to add. "Yes, America. It's a rather small country, an island quite far from here. Likely not on the radar of a country as powerful as Amestris."

Bradley looks suspicious, but I could just be imagining it. "Very well, my dear. Would you like to begin?"

Another officer approaches with materials for me to draw a transmutation circle. I wave him away.

"I'm offended that you think I need to draw a circle for something as easy as this," I tell him. He blinks.

"But, if you're offering me help, here's something you can do. All of you. Launch something at me. Hit me with whatever you have."

The air is still.

"Are you sure about that?" the officer asks, taken aback (or perhaps he's just a very good actor).

I nod. "What are you waiting for?"

It takes the military officers a couple of seconds to get into position. I nod to an officer, and he shoots a couple of bullets my way. Barely even thinking about it, I force another wall to rise up out of the stone floor, blocking it effectively.

Another guy comes at me with a sword. I smirk at him, then make a shield to block the hit. Then I grab the handle of his sword and flip it at him. He backs away, vaguely impressed.

The last one to come at me is Roy with his flames. His face is detached as he launches fire in my direction.

_What elements are in fire again? Let me think, I know there's oxygen… but it would depend what he was burning._

I see the Fuhrer taking a sip of water (right, forgot people needed to drink in an anime) and get an idea.

_Water should still put it out, right? I might need to smother it with my jacket, though, as well. Thank God that Roy thought to get me the fireproof kind._

I manage to transmute the water in Bradley's cup over the flame, before tossing my jacket over it. Apparently that's good enough, since the fire goes out.

The officers back off, leaving me alone on the stone again.

"Hey, Fuhrer. You've got that sword, right?" He's eyeing me now, and for some reason I decide it's a good idea to keep talking. "Why don't you come at me yourself? Running a fine country such as this one must be stressful… I'm sure you've got a lot of bottled up _rage _to let out. C'mon, unleash your _wrath. _I'm a big girl; I can take it."

There is a shocked silence. Suddenly I remember that, to some degree, a good percentage of these officers actually do know what I'm talking about. These greedy assholes who want to be immortal and become such at the cost of their own people… if I wouldn't be thrown in a cell with Kimblee for doing it, I'd surely launch something at the crowd that's watching me.

Bradley's smile is pained. "You've already done quite enough, my dear. You don't need to prove yourself any further. That was, well, an impressive exhibition of your skills. Possibly even more impressive than Mr. Elric's test a couple of years ago- my, has it really been that long already?" He chuckles.

"But there is one thing that you should keep in mind; why, you shouldn't underestimate yourself, Anastasia, but you certainly shouldn't _over_estimate yourself, either. That being said, I don't think there's even a question as to whether or not you passed this exam. You are all free to leave… but Anastasia, there's something I'd like to say to you in private, if that's acceptable. And Colonel Mustang, will you meet me in the conference room adjacent to this room shortly?"

As soon as everyone has cleared out, Bradley walks over to where I'm standing and yanks the patch off his ruined eye, letting me take in the Ouroboros before he starts to speak again. His much is much lower and more threatening.

"Ms. Owens, I don't believe you truly want my wrath unleashed on you."

I don't know when I stop shaking, but when I do, he's gone.

Conference room… right. Something struck me as off, when Bradley asked Mustang to meet him in there, and I'm going to find out what. As discreetly as possible, of course. Now, I might usually be opposed to eavesdropping, but I think it's understandable in this case.

So what I do is, I press an ear to the thick wooden door in hopes that I can hear what they talk about. And, to my delight, I do.

Every word.

"-why yes, she certainly IS a strange girl," Mustang's voice. "But in terms of technical skill, she seems to be far superior to most of our tryouts. It is, indeed, not even worthy of questioning whether or not she will pass. The answer is a resounding yes."

"Colonel, I think you misunderstood me when I said that. I was meaning to imply that she would undoubtedly NOT be given a position as a State Alchemist. Not only is she a virtual unknown who doesn't appear in any records that I can find, but she's presented so many different versions of her own background that none of us know what to believe. Additionally, you've seen her arrogance- it surpasses even your own, even Fullmetal's. She's clearly not trustworthy, and with such a significant character flaw, hiring her her might be counterproductive."

No sound from the other side of the door, but I feel as though I've been punched at hearing this. Now, I'm usually better able to brush this sort of thing off- but to hear such a despicable creature whose own "son" is the embodiment of arrogance say this is a far different matter.

Mustang says coolly, smoothly, "That may be true, but that doesn't mean she isn't a good candidate for this position."

"Do you really TRUST this girl, Roy?" Bradley cuts him off.

Mustang snorts.

"Are you kidding?" Another virtual punch to the gut. "I met her three days ago, and you should know me well enough by now to know that I'm not one to trust so easily. Riza and I both agree that she's probably hiding something, or that she probably has her own hidden agenda of some sort. I don't even fully believe that Anastasia Owens is her real name."

Once again, I feel as though I've been punched.

"That being said, she did warn Fullmetal about Scar before any of us even knew what her warning meant. And she is very talented, even if she is extremely sketchy. Frankly, if we hire her and she DOES turn out to be some sort of criminal, you have several military personnel as first hand witnesses. She'll be easy to keep an eye on this way. And on the off chance she's really who she says she is, we'll have gained a valuable Alchemist."

I can almost hear Bradley's nodding. "…if that's how you see it, Mustang, then I think that's a fair argument. We'll call her in tomorrow to get her watch and official codename."

"Thank you," Roy says stiffly, and I hear his footsteps as he shuffles toward the door. _Please don't let him see I'm here!_

"Mustang? One last question.

"Do you fully trust _me_?"

Do you, Mustang? Do you trust that monster?

_Maybe Bradley's not the only monster, but Mustang sure as hell isn't one. Then who does that leave?_

"Of course, your excellency."

That hangs in the air for a few seconds. On the other side of the door, I hold my breath.

"I'll be leaving through this back exit, Roy. I need to get some fresh air."

I hear another door open, and Bradley's footsteps fade away. But what I don't pay attention to is the door I'm leaning on as it opens, sending me toppling face-first into Mustang.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't even have time to be embarrassed as I push myself up from my current sprawled-out position on the floor. Roy does the same, his onyx eyes shooting me a sharp, pointed glance that practically burns. If looks could kill, then that would have incinerated me to a pile of ashes. (And that would have made Envy very happy.)

I fire back a look of similar intensity, before realizing how bad this whole thing looks for me. He was just saying he didn't trust me- surely I'm only contributing to that right now.

I turn pink.

"In case you were wondering, I was just—"

"Anastasia," he interrupts coldly. "You're not helping your case right now. Excuses will not do anything."

_What am I supposed to do? How do I handle this? _

_Since when am I doubting myself so much?_

"Fine," I reply. "I won't bullshit you, Colonel Mustang. Yes, I was spying on you. Yes, I realize how _sketchy _my story must sound. But it's not like I've been in this sort of situation before. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"For starters, you probably shouldn't spy on military officials," Roy's voice oozes sarcasm.

"No duh. But I do apologize. Really, I do. And, um, I appreciate you standing up for me back there. Sort of. I mean, not that I sort of appreciate it, but that you only sort of stood up for me, since you did say you don't trust anything I say- not that that's a bad thing, I wouldn't trust me either, and…" I lose track of whatever crappy words I was just spewing.

"You're sort of welcome." Roy checks the clock to see that it's a little past noon, then turns back to me.

"…As much as I don't want to see that face of yours right now, I do believe that you still owe me some sort of explanation. The cafeteria should still be opened, if you'd like to do it over lunch."

I give him another look. "Are you sure you really want to talk somewhere where other military personnel are so likely to hear it?"

He sighs. "Okay, point taken. Come with me; I know of a decent place around here."

* * *

The café he takes us to is very small, very quiet, a little hole-in-the-wall place somewhere near military HQ. Red brick walls surround us on three sides, the remaining wall being entirely glass so that we can see everything happening on the streets outside. It's one way, Roy explains to me, so we don't risk anyone seeing us in here. There are several small tables with matching chairs scattered about the place, numerous scratches littering the floors. The lights are dim, and you order your food at a counter in the back. It's not a place I'd seen when I was reading the manga or watching the animes- so far it seems that I tend to forget that there's always more than what is in plain sight.

I wonder how someone as clean-cut and polished as Roy would have ever even heard of a place like this.

But, like everyone else in Amestris, the girl behind the counter knows who Roy is.

"Yoo-hoo, Roy Mustang!" she waves to him perkily, and something about that carefree peppiness makes me want to slap her across the face. I can tell Roy is sort of thinking the same thing, but he lets her continue. "Is this the girl of the day? She's pretty cute, but she looks a little young for you."

Roy half-smiles, half-smirks at the girl. "No, she's just a colleague of mine. But it's always good to see you, Missy, being so cheerful. Now, can we just order?"

We both hastily order and get our food, then Roy pays for the both of us before we sit back down. As we back away from the counter, I can see Missy winking at me before she points at Roy and gives me a thumb-up.

_If I wasn't in such a bad position with Roy already, then I would punch you. No questions asked. _

We sit down and chew on our meals for a couple of minutes, waiting for Missy to go back into the kitchen, before Roy breaks the silence.

"So, Anastasia, I'm going to ask you one thing, and I want the truth. Who are you working for?"

I take a sip of my drink nonchalantly before answering, "You, assuming you managed to convince the Fuhrer back there that he should hire me. Who are YOU working for?"

"The Fuhrer," he replies without even thinking. "The people of Amestris."

_That's what you think. You're playing so well into Father's hands right now._

Roy cuts me off from my thoughts. "If you thought that was going to distract me, then you're wrong. In fact, it just makes you seem all the more suspicious, that you'd have to try distraction tactics."

_Oops. _

I try not to be phased as I babble to Roy, "But I swear, that's really the honest answer. Here's a tip: if I were lying to you, I'd be fidgeting, which I'm not. And I probably wouldn't be able to look you in the eye."

He still looks unsure. "

I sigh. "Okay, fine, since you're so eager for details. Technically I used to work for the Apple store in the mall, but I got fired because I was always reading instead of helping the customers out."

"What…?" a rare look of uncertainty passes across his face, softening his hardened expression significantly.

"Future thing," I explain, causing him to sigh again.

"And that's another thing," Roy presses on, and I take another bite of my meal as I listen. "How can I even be sure you're FROM the future? It would explain why you seem to know everything that happens before it happens, but how would you have so much information on virtually _everything_? Do history books really tell you that much?"

"It's a pretty detailed book."

"No book could tell you that much," he retorts.

_If only you knew, Roy. If only you knew._

"Is this a roundabout way for you to ask whether or not I'm lying about being from the future? I have evidence, and it's pretty official-looking evidence too."

From the pocket of my jacket, I pull out my wallet. (I'd forgotten all about it until I was looking through the pockets on my now-ruined sweatshirt and pulled it out.) I fish around for my learner's permit and hand it to Roy, who scans it over, reading where it says "Anastasia Owens" and "USA" and "7-7-1997" and all that now undeniable info."

"See? 1997," I point to it. "I'm not making this up. It's 1914 now."

"You could have easily had this printed up somewhere. There's a lot of places you can get fake IDs from."

I briefly wonder why he would know that, but I can't distract myself. I keep getting more and more frustrated by his interrogations and his skepticism. I mean, I know that my story is pretty unbelievable and that most people couldn't readily accept it. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about not being trusted.

I feel the frustration as it builds up inside of me. My feelings are raging rapids that crash against the dam holding them back, threatening to break the wall and drown anything in sight.

"Dammit!" I pound my fist into the table. "Why can't you take my word for this?"

Suddenly, I can feel the little light bulb flashing above my head.

_I need Roy to be able to trust me, and then his men will trust me too. If he and his men trust me, then they'll let me be the hero I want to be here. But if I want to be a hero and save someone, who do I start with? Someone near and dear to Roy. Someone smart. Someone whose death would affect everyone. Someone whose death was totally preventable. _

_Someone like…_

"Well, you'll _have _to trust me when you hear this. What if I told you that Hughes was going to die?" I ask him, a half-smirk grazing my lips.

"Hughes?" There's a sense of hurt behind the darkness of Roy's eyes as he snaps to attention. "Why would someone kill Hughes?"

"Because he knew- excuse me, he _will _know- too much. He doesn't know anything yet," I say. "He doesn't even know yet that he doesn't know it."

"Well, when is this going to happen?"

That's when it occurs to me- when _does_ that happen? I know where it happens in a chronological order, but I don't know _when, _exactly.

"Pardon me for a second, but my history book wasn't very well dated. If I recall correctly, the Elrics left for Risembool not too long ago, right?"

"Three days ago," Roy informs me. "Fullmetal said they'd be gone for a week or two."

"Which means, after they discover 'the truth behind the truth', they'll be going to Lab 5- and yes, Roy, don't look shocked, it ISN'T really shut down. And within a few days of that fateful visit, that's when it's going to happen. If you want me to try to prevent that when it comes, you're going to have to trust me in the meantime."

Roy remains silent for a moment.

A long moment.

"I'm still not sure whether you're pulling my leg. But for now, I'll take your word on this, Anastasia. If you mislead me then you will be sorry."

We put our empty trays on the counter and wave bye to Missy, who's just walked back in from the kitchen. She winks once more, and I leave feeling a little bit cheerier. Not wanting to punch her anymore, at least, which is a good start.

"By the way, Colonel- if you distrust me so much, then why did you tell me to protect myself? If you think I'm making everything up, why do you care what happens to me?"

Roy doesn't look at me when he answers, "Just because I distrust you doesn't mean I want you to get hurt."

* * *

It's the next day when I get my official state certification. We're back in Roy's office in Eastern HQ when he hands me my watch (my watch! My very own watch!), saying, "Don't make us regret this decision, to let you be a State Alchemist."

"I will try to ensure that I leave you with no regrets" I say, then I see him smirking. "What's with that face?"

"Your official second name is quite ironic. You're now the Truth-seeker Alchemist."

* * *

**At this point, some of you are probably like, "What gives, Ichigo? You tagged Envy in this fic, and we haven't even seem him yet!"**

**But, if you recall, Ed first comes face-to-face with Envy at Lab 5, which is when Anastasia will meet him too. And later, he's going to play a _very_ major role in this story.**

**(By the way, this chapter has been changed since when it was originally posted. I noticed that it wasn't always clear who was talking and that uploading the file from word made the *** I use to separate the different scenes disappear, so I went back in to fix it. I may have to do that with the remainder of the chapters eventually.)**

**Please review, if you can!**


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